Thanks. I do have the latest quicktime version. However, I found out how to resolve it (for now): the strange thing is, the files are located on my G drive whereas Vegas/Quicktime etc are on my C drive; Vegas CAN play the MOV files located on the C drive, but not the ones on the G drive! As a test I copied a file over from the G drive to the C drive, and all of the sudden it works!

I am pretty sure this is a Quicktime issue, rather than a Vegas issue, b/c the exact same thing happens when I try to open it via Quicktime directly (i.e. it only works when the files are on the C drive). Playing via Windows media player etc works flawlessly, no matter where the file is located.

So, yes, got my workaround, but have to say it's a very weird issue! Also, unfortunately Vegas doesn't play the files very well (choppy, not always in synch with audio). I need to severely reduce the quality to get smooth playback. The files are 1920x1080/24p. Thing is, I downloaded Premiere Pro CS5 and Premiere Pro elements demos and the playback is smooth there (on full quality!), It's a shame, b/c I really like Vegas, but the mix with my Nikon files seems suboptimal.

I'm sure it goes without saying that you should ensure your G drive as well as all other hard drives on your computer should be formatted NTFS (rather than FAT32, as they come from the factory). FAT32 drives have a file size limitation that can choke a lot of video work.

yeh, is formatted ok (it's my main media drive). Am guessing it some sort of Quicktime Codec/registry type issue (i.e. somehow only can read from C drive). Will do a bit of googling and report nack if I find anything.

Thanks!

finally found the issue: quicktime couldn't play the files from one of my drives b/c of the drive name!! It had some special characters in it, and once I removed those, quicktime could play it and VMS too. Now trialling Vegas Pro....will bite the bullet if performance is acceptable.

After spending a number of years as a Unix sys admin, working with windoze etc, I have learned to create file-folder-drive names that are legal for all (no spaces - underscore instead, no other special characters etc). Many people have told me they have no problems using spaces, parens etc, but sooner or later, it will cause a problem for something. I find "some_file_name" just as readable as "some file name" but I don't end up with odd ones like this popping out of the bushes periodically. :-)

mikey